The Songbird ReMix "2" Confusion

The Songbird ReMix 2 Package and the Songbird Remix 2.CR2

I made a mistake in the naming of the Songbird ReMix "2" package... most everyone thought it was an upgrade when in fact in was a package signaling revisions on the series using the new morphs, conforming crests and improved texture maps. "2" was short for it's true title, "Second Edition", on hind sight I should have called it "New beginning" or something like that. Immediately after the release of SBRM2, I put together service releases for all the other packages including the revisions found in the SBRM2's cr2.

So let me say this plainly again, Songbird ReMix 2 is not an upgrade to Songbird ReMix 1.

So if SBRM2 isn't an upgrade, what is it? Think of it as an add-on pack showing the diversity in the model since you can create everything from hummingbirds to pigeons to cockatoos with it.

The Songbird ReMix "3" Confusion

I'll try to say this as plainly (too) as I can... Songbird Remix 3 is the latest version of the model(s). Unlike many other products (such as Victoria 1, 2, 3, 4) you do not have to toss and repurchase everything. I upgrade everything for FREE.

To get the latest version of Songbird ReMix: The core product, Songbird ReMix (also in upgrade and bundle) were last updated July 30, 2010. Reset your DAZ download to get it. Included in that base package are all the SBRM3 bases (Songbird, Parrot, Gamebird, Syndactyl and Zygodatcyl). You'll need those bases for the other volumes (listed above in the "Requires Songbird ReMix" list)

Differences between older versions and SBRM3

The big changes within SBRM3 were the addition of new geometry within the models, repositioning of the thighs, some new model bases, new materials, over 30 new morphs and reshaping of most of the bird species using the new morphs. For complete details on this, read the SBRM3 Manual.

Old Vs. Files with the SBRM3 updates... I've purposely labeled the files in the updates with a sbrm3 in the folder name. In Poser, you should use only the SBRM3 base cr2. with these SBRM3. I deleted the older SBRM 1/2 files from my runtime, SBRM3 stuff is so much better, I see no plausible reason to use the old stuff again.

Some other changes....

Poser Filenames... back when the older volumes were released, It was the practice of most content provider to use abbreviated filenames. The abbreviated filenames were done in part to ensure compatibility on both the PC and MAC platform. Through the years, the operation systems and software have evolved to allow much more descriptive and much longer filenames, so I in turned start the create the files with the complete bird name. In my more current volumes such as Australia, Shorebirds, Legend, the bird names are fully spelled out in the Poser version (they always been spelled out in the DAZ Studio versions.) With the updates, I have chosen to use the complete bird name on the older versions. To avoid confusion with older versions, I've put a SBRM3 label on the folders. So what do you keep? The sbrm3 versions are better in every way-- delete the older versions.

The SBRM3 models and differences from the older ones... Most of my newer SBRM models will work close to flawlessly with the older libraries. The biggest issue will be applying the older poses. A long standing error in the feet joint parameters was corrected in the SBRM3 models so when applying the older poses, some of the talons may be askew. This will be corrected when all of the poses with adjusted to SBRM3 as part of my revisions. The one model which is much different than older model bases is the new SBRM3 Parrot Base. The Thigh, shin and foot size in the new model has been adjusted specifically for parrots. In the older base (SBRM2), the parrot base was simply the Woodpecker base with some additional morphs. This older base needed dramatic scaling in the thighs, shins and feet to get a parrot "look". When an older sbrm2 parrot character is used with the newer SBRM3 parrot base the scaling is amplified because the scaling is already in the model. There are three ways to resolve issue; 1). Use the SBRM3 Woodpecker base or 2). Manually return the scaling on the thighs, shins and feet to 100% or 3.) Best Way... use the new revised SBRM3 parrot characters with the Sbrm3 Base.

I'm having troubles with the Conforming Crests in Poser?

Well, if you're like me, you don't read those readmes and other documentation when the DAZ installer asks if you want to read them. They then get buried some where in the Poser Runtime and are soon forgotten. There's a PDF file you'll find incredibly useful; the Manual and Field Guide. Now I know I roll my eyes at manuals but you'll find the Field Guide part of the manual pretty cool-- there's all sorts of information about the birds featured in the package like habitat, status, nesting habits and cool facts. If you can't find the PDF, go to Songbird ReMix Downloads ; copies of all the manuals are there.

The texture and transparency maps don't seem to line up right

One of the most common problem emails I received is that the texture maps don't seem to work. 99% of the time this is because the user is trying to use the Songbird model with the Songbird ReMix maps. These are NOT compatible. You need to use the Songbird ReMix model with the Songbird ReMix maps. Why...? See below.

Will the Original Songbird Maps work with Songbird ReMix?

No. while close to the SBRM maps they need to be adjusted to match the SBRM Templates. There are no plans to revise the Songbird maps to Songbird ReMix format and visa versa.

Will Songbird ReMix work with Mimic?

There's a Mimic configuration (DMC) file for SBRM in Songbird ReMix Downloads
. How good does Mimic work with a bird? Click here for a demo movie (Flash8 format)

Ken's take on Songbird ReMix Vs. other artist's bird models

Many people have asked me what I think of other artists creating birds or textures for my Songbird ReMix series. That's easy question... the more birds out there, the better for the users (more choices), and the more visibility and respect birds will get. It's probably clear to most that I do the birds I want to do. I don't really look at market trends-- if I did, I'd be creating skimpy clothes for the Victoria and Stephanie models. In some cases at my chosen vender, DAZ3D, I have overlapped some bird species found in other artist's product list (Blue Tit, Raven, Pigeon, etc) and, in some cases, they have overlapped my library. If I create an overlap, it's just simply I wanted them in Songbird ReMix format.

Expansion Plans

I've had numerous requests for all sort of birds around the world. While I try to try each request seriously, there's only so much I can do. Many times a number of requests end up in a Regional and theme volume. I eventually plan to cover select species of the entire bird world with Songbird ReMix or SBRM hybrid models.

Morph Questions

What does the "MirrorStretch" morph do in the conforming crest models? MirrorStretch: Mirrors the “Stretch” Action morph found in the model Head's section.

DAZ|Studio Use

How to use SBRM in DAZ|Studio

Revised for DAZ Studio 4... The latest versions of DAZ Studio 4 appear to be having issues with the Songbird Remix library. I have made DAZ aware of this issue. The problem generates from the recent versions (4.0+) of DAZ Studio not having backward compatibility with the version of DAZ Studio the Songbird ReMix library were written with (Version 2.3). Errors reported span from crashes to mismapped textures. UPDATE: I've been informed DAZ has corrected the comptability problem on the Advanced and Professional versions of DAZ Studio4. The free version has not been corrected yet.

Make sure you have BOTH the Poser and DS version of my product and installed

Load the appropriate Bird base model CR2 (and conforming parts, if needed) from the POSER version

Apply in the Character settings from the DAZ Studio Version to the base model (! CreateYourOwn : Characters : Name of SBRM Library). This will load the proper DS character and material settings on the bird base. Loading settings from Poser's Poses command will give undesirable results (improper sizing of feet and overall scale issues)

You will need to assemble some birds (conforming crests, tails). Use the "FIT TO" command as you would with conforming clothes on the Bird Base.

This will probably be the solution DAZ ends up using... if so, there will no longer be prebuilt birds on Studio versions. I have dropped all my current projects to address this issue with all my products at DAZ. I will announce will the official fixes are available.

Versions of DAZ|Studio prior to 4.5 have problems with the Propagating Scale of the Feet in Songbird ReMix. Unfortunately, the only current solution is to manually scale all the digits on each foot. To determine if manual scaling is needed, look at the SCALE settings on rFoot or lFoot parts in DAZ|Studio. If the amount is more than 100%, then all the digits (rPinky1, rPinky2, rMid1, etc.) will need to be scaled accordingly. As this is a known bug in DAZ|Studio that will hopefully get corrected in a forth-coming release/patch. The easy way to correct the scaling issues is to use the "Scale Feet" pose commands in the Songbird ReMix Native DS versions otherwise use the Scaling Tool.

DAZ Studio 4.5+ finally added in Propagating scale for my feet creating a new problem since all the older versions were written to compensate for the missing propagating scale commands. Now I have a Scale Feet Fix available for 4.5+ users to fix the fix in my downloads.

Using the Latest CR2 in DAZ Studio.

While the premade DS birds are great, there are issues when wanting to take advantage of the latest master CR2. Unlike Poser, all the joint parameters and morphs are hard coded to the preassembled bird. Thus to take advantage of the latest CR2, it needs to be rebuilt from a Poser import of using the latest CR2 and PZ2 files. Native DS version will be periodically updated in the Download section.

POSER Use

How to Remove the Black Triangles in Renders

Download the latest Songbird ReMix CR2 (Version 2.7 or above)

Square Shadows

Small birds may render with a SQUARE shadow. This is a bug in Poser. Poser can’t figure out how to render a shadow for something really small, so it creates a square shadow. The solution is to put a larger item that casts a normal Poser shadow in the scene (even if it is off camera) and the square shadows will be fixed.

Vue, Bryce & Other 3D App Use

When importing Poser 6 content, the morphs are not coming in correctly.

In Poser, switch off External Binary Morph Target support on the Misc tab of the General Preferences dialog (CTRL/CMD+K) before saving your PZ3/PZZ for import into Vue.

There are weird artifacts/triangles showing up near the bird in my renders.

Those are probably the invisible wing and beak controller guides labeled as RForeArm, RHand, RFeather, LForearm, LHand, LFeather and Beak. In Vue's Material Editor either make them invisible again by turning transparency to 100% or delete them.

Textures on the Wings or fluff feathers in Vue aren't rendering correctly

Vue often creates dark squares on Songbird ReMix wings. I'm not really sure why this happens and there's no easy solution. One thing that will minimize the issue is to use "Poly Mesh Options" and split the model shoulders (wings) by materials. Select the "wingfeathers" material in each shoulder to change the smoothing to 60% or less. Do this, or or in combination with the sub-divide for the easiest way.

The best solution is to save your bird as an .obj, then go into a 3D modeller and sub-divide the the "wingfeathers" material once and save the .obj. If you do this you may have to re-enter the transparent material maps. Another way, or in combination with the sub-divide method, is to try turning the "wingfeathers" material smoothing down to 60% or less (either on the Poser CR2 or in the VUE mesh editor. This correct 95% of the issues.

Sub-dividing the "Fluff" materials helps to cut down on the rings and graying that occur in Vue on Fluff areas.

The eye texture is missing or white

The eyes are probably too reflective and are using a reflection map. Reflective properties differ between programs. The “Eye” material uses a Poser reflection map; since Vue has a built-in environment, it’s better to use the Vue one and cut down the reflection to 20-50% depending on light in the scene.

Select the imported bird model from the Layer it’s loaded in – usually it’s called “BODY”

The Material editor Section should say “BODY” and have a “ 1 of 15” materials with a down arrow and two left/right page arrows, Select the DOWN arrow and the EYES material.

The Bird is too shiny

Vue reads Poser highlight settings differently than Poser reads them. You'll find often Vue reads the opposite of what Poser would do what highlights, thus materials such as plummage, bodyfeathers, wings, legs read in the 80-90 range when they should be in the 30-40 range. I also turned down the Highlights on Plumage, PlumageNH, Beak and WingFeathers and TailFeathers to Highland Global intensity 45% and Highlight Global size 30%.

Carrara Use

Using Songbird ReMix within Carrara

It is strongly recommended that you use DAZ Studio as the vehicle to get Songbird ReMix to work properly in Carrara. Importing from a Poser Runtime may cause issues and deform the model.

Load the DS version of Songbird ReMix bird you want and Export the bird using Collada with DAZ Extensions.

Importing that Collada file into Carrara should clear up any issues often found importing from the Poser Runtime.

You can then adjust the shaders and drag and drop the bird to the Carrara Browser, thus having a Carrara native version of your bird.

Weird Hip bumps and messed up feet

This is caused by importing from the Poser Runtime. Carrara (and DAZ Studio) do not support internal Poser Propagating Scale commands within the Songbird ReMix series extensively. It also fails to read the SmoothZones in the hip region when Thigh yScaling/zScaling is used and radically distort the hip/rump region. The best solution is to use the DAZ Studio Collada export option described above. If you do not want to use that method, there is a work-around:

If you are experiencing deformed feet, look at the Scale values for one of the feet and apply those values to the rest of the digits on each foot.

If you are experiencing a deformed rump, turn both yScale and or zScale values in the Thighs to 100%

If you are experiencing deformed wings, check both wing parts and make sure WingFold=0. Allow the BODY section morph to control the Wing Fold

If you are experiencing "Graying" around the Fluff morphs, you'll need to either Hide off/Hide those Fluff areas or adjust the material settings to improve the "look"